Thread: Best hardwood for deck

Jarrah Jarrah Jarrah, Oi, Oi, Oi.
Hi, and welcome.
I would go with Jarrah rather than Merbooooo.
As for the pergola I would use Irish Pine ( O'regon) , then paint it to suit the Jarrah decking.

Al

G'day.

I have a small deck/verandah on the front of my house that is Kwila (what we norvenas call merbau) & it's been there for 5 years now & holding up just fine.
Kwila (merbau) bleeds a lots when it gets wet & we still get a bit of bleeding after 5 years. The bleeding can stain other things around it.

Jarrah prob'ley looks better as Kwila often has a weird white/yellow fleck in the grain that looks like it's been painted & then sanded back.

Kwila is prob'ley cheaper, well, it is for us up here 'cos Jarrah don't here abouts.

For a deck, outside in the weather, abused, hosed down, occassionally oiled or coated......in Aussie hwds, in this application.....Tallowood no contest. For the other application (shudder!)treated pinus...... Al could be right

If you use oregon for the uprights, make sure they aren't in the ground. Termites LOVE the stuff. Oregon is a termite banquet! You'll need to make sure it's well protected too, as it doesn't handle being in the weather so if it's not under a roof , then don't use it. Go with a good grade of structural treated pine.

Reilly, kwila is a very popular choice for decks around here along with yellow balau.

Now I know slightly less than bugger all about timber, but from what I've heard, kwila is a very durable timber, relatively easy to work with, but the ends can tend to split when nailing, and it does tend to bleed quite a bit. I've also seen a few kwila decks that have gone very dark, almost black, over the years, but this may have more to do with how they oiled it. I'm sure someone here would have a better idea than I.

Anyway, I will be replacing my deck in a couple of weeks, but, I wanted something a bit different from the neighbours and I came across northern box.

Apparantly, Northern box is a very hard and durable timber, can be a bit hard to work with and it doesn't like nail guns (my knees and back hurt just thinking about hand nailing it). The good thing is that it doesn't bleed (very important for me as my cars park under it) and although it is not quite as dark as kwila it does have some interesting variations in its colour. I took a few pieces home and oiled them up and they look absolutely brilliant!

Jarrah, you can't beat it for decks

Cheers

Since you are in Melbourne you might try and access Red gum for your timber requirments, it's durable has a dark colour, lasts a long time outdoors etc.

Try "tile importers" for starters, they purchase all sorts of end runs, short lengths, in fact most if not all building products. You could easily spend a day there.

for your decking ring a few local timber yards and see what's available in your area, get their advice on durability aswell.
for the pergola, as it's uncovered DON'T use oregon, it just won't last, go with treated pine.

G'day.
As E. Mac stated...Tallowood.
Next best...Turpentine.
Forget: Treated pine, Jarah, Kwila, Merbau and any victorian species.
N.S.W. hardwoods all the way.

It may be costly but you will be thankfull in the end.

Hooroo.
Regards, Trevor
Grafton

I would use spotted gum because that is what is available here. My prefrence is cypress pine. Its half the price and the local timber lasts well.

thanks to all for the comments

Reilly,

What is the floorboards inside?

In addition to trevor's shortlist, consider Ironbark too.

Regards,
Theva

You cannot go past Red Iron Bark decking 90 x 19. It will last forever. Be carefull though it will bleed for a while like most red timbers and will require predrilling. Iron Bark is very hard and holds up to the weather better than all the other red decks around. I think the only red deck that does not bleed is Red Mahogany.